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16 Aug 2019, 05:29

@i have no words to express for your this kind gesture !! It is quite an informative and logically structured essays I have ever seen !! I wish I could have the power of giving you 100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 kudossss

I took the GMAT twice and scored 6.0 each time. I did put a lot of time in it the first time....too much actually. Being a non-native speaker and having not written a damn essay (of any kind) in many many years, I was very scared of the AWA. So, I went through every guide that I could find and wrote nearly 25-30 essays. Even had a friend grade them for me.....Pathetic, huh?

Anyway, for my second time, I just looked over my templates I created and wrote one of each the day before test just to refresh my memory on faster typing without making too many typos......

So, here it is....Enjoy, and please do not blame me if the 6.0 percentile goes down to 80 soon

AWA GUIDE

by Chineseburned

1. General Structure

Intro - Restate argument, point out flaws or state intention to discuss them below1st Para - First,...2nd Para - Second/In addition,...3rd Para - Third/Finally,...Conclusion - The argument is flawed/weak/unconvincing because of the above -mentioned...Ultimately, the argument can be strengthened if/by...

Intro:The argument claims that ....(restate)Stated in this way the argument: a) manipulates facts and conveys a distorted view of the situation b) reveals examples of leap of faith, poor reasoning and ill-defined terminology c) fails to mention several key factors, on the basis of which it could be evaluatedThe conclusion of the argument relies on assumptions for which there is no clear evidence. Hence, the argument is weak/unconvincing and has several flaws.

1st Para:First, the argument readily assumes that......This statement is a stretch....For example,...Clearly,...The argument could have been much clearer if it explicitly stated that...

2nd Para:Second, the argument claims that....This is again a very weak and unsupported claim as the argument does not demonstrate any correlation between....and...To illustrate,...While,...However,....indeed....In fact, it is not at all clear...rather....If the argument had provided evidence that.....then the argument would have been a lot more convincing.

3rd Para:Finally,...(pose some questions for the argument).....Without convincing answers to these questions, one is left with the impression that the claim is more of a wishful thinking rather than substantive evidence.

Conclusion:In conclusion, the argument is flawed for the above-mentioned reasons and is therefore unconvincing. It could be considerably strengthened if the author clearly mentioned all the relevant facts....In order to assess the merits of a certain situation/decision, it is essential to have full knowledge of all contributing factors. In this particular case....Without this information, the argument remains unsubstantiated and open to debate.

4. Going from the templates to full-fledged essays

ESSAY QUESTION: The following appeared in the editorial section of a national news magazine:[/b]

"The rating system for electronic games is similar to the movie rating system in that it provides consumers with a quick reference so that they can determine if the subject matter and contents are appropriate. This electronic game rating system is not working because it is self regulated and the fines for violating the rating system are nominal. As a result an independent body should oversee the game industry and companies that knowingly violate the rating system should be prohibited from releasing a game for two years."

Discuss how well reasoned you find this argument. Point out flaws in the argument's logic and analyze the argument's underlying assumptions. In addition, evaluate how supporting evidence is used and what evidence might counter the argument's conclusion. You may also discuss what additional evidence could be used to strengthen the argument or what changes would make the argument more logically sound.

YOUR RESPONSE:

Quote:

The argument claims that the electronic games rating system, although similar to the movie rating system, is not working because it is self regulated and violation fines are nominal, Hence, the gaming rating system should be overseen by an independent body. Stated in this way the argument fails to mention several key factors, on the basis of which it could be evaluated. The conclusion relies on assumptions, for which there is no clear evidence. Therefore, the argument is rather weak, unconvincing, and has several flaws.

First, the argument readily assumes that because the electronic game rating system is self regulated, it is not working well. This statement is a stretch and not substantiated in any way. There are numerous examples in other areas of business or commerce, where the entities are self regulated and rather successful. For instance, FIA, the Formula1 racing organization is self regulated. Yet, the sport is very popular and successful, drawing millions of spectators around the world each year. Tickets are rather expensive, races are shown on pay-per-view, and nearly all drivers are paid very well. Another example is the paralleled movie rating system that the argument mentions. The author fails to clarify whether it is working well, but it is clear that the movie rating system is pretty well received by people, who often base their decisions to go see a movie with kids or not on the movie rating. It has never been a case when someone would feel cheated by the movie rating and express disappointment afterwards. Since the movie rating system is also self regulated, it follows that this regulatory method is working pretty well and it is not obvious how it can be the reason for the poor electronic game rating system. The argument would have been much clearer if it explicitly gave examples of how the self regulatory system led to bad ratings and customer dissatisfaction.

Second, the argument claims that any violation fees for bad electronic game ratings are nominal. It thus suggests that this is yet another reason for the rating system not working. This is again a very weak and unsupported claim as the argument does not demonstrate any correlation between the monetary amount of the fines and the quality of the electronic game rating system. In fact, the argument does not even draw a parallel with the mentioned movie rating system and its violation fines. If any such correlation had been shown for the movie rating system, which supposedly works well, then the author would have sounded a bit more convincing. In addition, if the argument provided evidence that low violation fines lead to electronic game manufacturers to ignore any regulations with respect to the game rating system, the argument could have been strengthened even further.

Finally, the argument concludes that an independent body should oversee the game industry and companies that violate the rating system, should be punished. From this statement again, it is not at all clear how an independent regulatory body can do a better job than a self regulated one. Without supporting evidence and examples from other businesses where independent regulatory bodies have done a great job, one is left with the impression that the claim is more of a wishful thinking rather than substantive evidence. As a result, this conclusion has no legs to stand on.

In summary, the argument is flawed and therefore unconvincing. It could be considerably strengthened if the author clearly mentioned all the relevant facts. In order to assess the merits of a certain situation, it is essential to have full knowledge of all contributing factors.

5. Final tips

During the tutorial type in a few sentences in the mock essay window to get used to the keyboard.

Again during the tutorial, jot down on your notebook the basic structure of your essays or the opening sentences in case you get too nervous and forget them when the clock starts ticking.

Write as much as you can. Try to write at least 500 words per essay.

Always have the e-rater in mind as your potential reviewer. Remember that the human rater will make every effort to grade just like the e-rater. In that sense, keep your structure and volume in mind over actual quality/content.

Be careful of spelling mistakes. Double check words that you normally know you misspell (e.g. exercise). Try to finish 2-3 minutes before time is up so you can slowly re-read your essay for the purposes of spell checking. Do not reorganize/delete sentences/paragraphs with less than 2 min left.

No matter how great you thought your essays went, try to stay humble and focused - remember this was just a warm-up and the real stuff hasn't started yet!

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18 Aug 2019, 03:51

lsuguy7 wrote:

Here is an essay I wrote for a PR Test - Graded a 6.0 (normally they grade harder than real thing)

Prompt: “The autonomy of any country is based on the strength of its borders; if the number of illegal immigrants entering a country cannot be checked, both its economy and national identity are endangered. Because illegal immigrants pose such threats, every effort must be made to return them to their country of origin.”

Assignment: Discuss how well-reasoned you find this argument. In your discussion, be sure to analyze the line of reasoning and the use of evidence in the argument. For example, you may need to consider what questionable assumptions underlie the thinking and what alternative explanations or counterexamples might weaken the conclusion. You can also discuss what sort of evidence would strengthen or refute the argument, what changes in the argument would make it more logically sound, and what, if anything, would help you better evaluate its conclusion.

"This argument relies heavily on unverified assumptions and has a very extreme conclusion. The author fails to make logical connections between the evidence provided and the conclusion that all illegal aliens must be returned to their country of origin.

The first problem with the argument is that it suffers from multiple unsubstantiated claims. The first evidence that is given to support the extreme conclusion is that the autonomy of any country is based on the strength of its borders. This statement is also extreme because it infers that every countries autonomy could be ranked by the strength of its borders. There are many European countries that have very little strength exerted at the borders, but still maintain autonomy. The author should clarify this statement by grouping countries together or using a more vague statement that would include most countries but not all.

The next statement in the argument is conditional phrase stating that the more illegal immigrants that enter a country the worse off the economy and national identity will be. While this statement might be true for some countries it is certainly not true for all countries. The very foundation of early US society was based on immigrant labor and culture that brought from over the sea. There are still many countries whose economy is heavily dependent on immigrant labor. Even though many economist feel this statement is true in the US today, most would disagree that this statement is true of all countries.

The final portion of the author's argument is the conclusion. The conclusion states that the because of disadvantages mentioned earlier all illegal immigrants must be returned to their country of origin. Although this statement might appear to be a logical conclusion of this extreme argument it fails to take extra information into account. The author doesn't give any indication on how extreme these problems will be or how costly it will be to return the amount of illegal aliens to their home country. What if the cost to the economy was half the amount that it would cost to send all of the immigrants back to their country of origin? The author could use some monetary figures to prove that some savings would be incurred if all illegal immigrants were deported.

In conclusion, the argument suffers from logical flaws and makes an extreme conclusion based on unproven assumptions. The addition of hard examples and connections between the statements would prove to strengthen the argument."

*This just shows you how you don't have to write great to get a good score*

The AWA structure is quite informative but I wonder whether the contents are to the point or not !!

Here it’s mentioned regarding the illegal immigrants, those immigrants who entered in any country illegally; those may be the terrorists or spy or anyone !!! So efforts must be made to make them return to their own countries .

Additionally, I would like to highlight one point , those immigrants who enter in any country for work purpose , they are supposed to have the valid visa then only they will be allowed to enter in any country thereby ,contributing that country’s economy , there comes the immigrant labour concept !!!